Method and apparatus for programming blackout and retune

ABSTRACT

A method for blackout and retune distribution including receiving a first wide area multiplexed feed, the first wide area multiplexed feed comprising a blacked out feed; and generating a requantized local service feed from a local replacement plus retune service feed, the local replacement plus retune service feed having a retune feed corresponding to a retune programming for the blacked out feed, wherein the requantized local service feed is to be combined with the first wide area multiplexed feed for transmission as a part of an aggregate local outbound traffic. A computer-readable medium, a apparatus and a means for blackout and retune distribution is also disclosed.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. §119

The present Application for Patent claims priority to ProvisionalApplication No. 60/568,182 entitled “MEDIAFLO BLACKOUT AND RETUNEOPTIONS” filed May 4, 2004, and Provisional Application No. 60/664,452entitled “SYSTEM FOR PROGRAMMING BLACKOUT AND RETUNE” filed Mar. 22,2005, assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporatedby reference herein.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The embodiments of the system described herein relates generally toproviding alternative program material in a media distribution systemduring a blackout, and more particularly, to a system for programmingblackout and retune.

2. Background

It is desirable to deliver multimedia (video and audio content) to largenumbers of consumers. It is also desirable that this delivery system beable to deliver a large amount of multimedia content to thesesubscribers. Because wireless handheld devices are becoming morefunctional and widely distributed, one approach would be to create abroadcast content delivery system for cellular radio networks, which hasthe ability to provide users the experience of viewing real-time media.The system has to be an end-to-end system that enables cellular networkoperators to enhance their multimedia service offerings over theircurrent networks while scaling over time as operators roll out networkenhancements. To content providers, the system has to offer theopportunity to leverage their existing content and extend their brandsinto the wireless space. Thus, the system has to be deliberatelydesigned to provide consumers with a high-quality experience with videoand audio on their wireless handsets.

A single frequency network (SFN) as applied to a wireless broadcastnetwork, may be used. The robust design of a wide area service using SFNis partly predicated on the availability of wide area programming, or“services,” that is distributed over large areas in a singleformat—i.e., all transmissions in the large area are the same. In otherwords, the identical programming signals, such as CNN and/or ESPN, isprovided to multiple services areas. This can allow overlapping signalcoverage of adjacent service areas to add constructively in anappropriately designed SFN, where each transmitter radiates the same biton the same frequency, at the same time to provide a more robustnetwork. This, in turn, requires decrypting keystreams to be identical.Thus, a necessary condition for SFN to function properly is that the“wide area” programming is bit and symbol exact at the physical layer astransmitted from all adjacent service areas.

Currently, wide area cable programmers that offer live event programmingare often subject to contracts that define blackout areas for the liveevent programming. For example, ESPN usually has to blackout games thatare associated with the home markets of the teams. In these geographicalareas, the rights to the games may have been sold to a regional network,ad hoc network, or a pay per view service. In order to support thesecontractual obligations, the cable programmer or broadcaster offersalternate programming during the blackout, referred to as retune orreplacement programming. The satellite receiver at the cable head endmay make replacement programming available. The programmer uses anin-band protocol from the cable programmer's head end to control theretune process in a satellite receiver in the cable programmer's headend. However, the presence of a retune event causes a service to nolonger match the “wide area feed.” The retune event changes thecharacter of the retuned service to be more similar to a local feedthat, by definition, is different from other local feeds in adjacentlocal area operation infrastructure (LOI) service areas. These “localservices” likely have independent program keys, and key streams.Consequently, the signal for the retuned service will interfere with,and, conversely, be affected by, the signals for the programming inother LOI service areas and decrease the effectiveness of the SFNnetwork.

Accordingly, there is a need to overcome the issues noted above.

SUMMARY

The description encompasses an apparatus and method in a media broadcastsystem for supporting blackout and retuning during substitution ofprogramming due to contractual obligation in a geographical area.

In one embodiment, an apparatus for blackout and retune distributionincludes a multiplex receiving a blacked out feed and a non-blacked outfeed; a retune multiplex receiving the non-blacked out feed and a retunefeed corresponding to a retune programming for the blacked out feed;and, a combiner coupled to the multiplex and the retune multiplex,wherein the combiner provides an aggregate outbound traffic includingthe non-blacked out feed, the blacked out feed and the retune feed.

In a second embodiment, the apparatus for blackout and retunedistribution includes a wide area multiplex receiving at least onenon-blacked out feed, the wide area multiplex providing an aggregatewide area outbound traffic; and, a local multiplex coupled to the widearea multiplex and receiving the aggregate wide area outbound traffic,at least one local feed, and a retune feed, wherein the local multiplexprovides an aggregate local outbound traffic.

In a third embodiment, the apparatus for blackout and retunedistribution includes a wide area multiplex receiving a non-blacked outfeed and a blacked out feed, the wide area multiplex providing anaggregate wide area outbound traffic; a wide area re-multiplex coupledto the wide area multiplex, the wide area re-multiplex receiving aretune feed corresponding to a retune programming for the blacked outfeed, the wide area re-multiplex configured to replace the blacked outfeed from the aggregate wide area outbound traffic with the retune feed;and, a local multiplex coupled to the wide area re-multiplex andreceiving the non-blacked out feed, the retune feed and a local feed,wherein the local multiplex provides an aggregate local outboundtraffic.

In a fourth embodiment, the apparatus for blackout and retunedistribution includes a wide area multiplex receiving a non-blacked outfeed and a blacked out feed; a combiner coupled to the wide areamultiplex and receiving the non-blacked out feed and the blacked outfeed, the combiner further receiving a retune feed corresponding to aretune programming for the blacked out feed, the combiner providing anaggregate wide area outbound traffic; a splitter coupled to thecombiner, the splitter configured to separate the aggregate wide areaoutbound traffic into the retune feed, the blacked out feed and thenon-blacked out feed; a wide area re-multiplex coupled to the splitter,the wide area re-multiplex receiving the retune feed and the blacked outfeed, the wide area re-multiplex configured to replace the blacked outfeed with the retune feed; and, a local multiplex coupled to the widearea re-multiplex and receiving the non-blacked out feed, the retunefeed and a local feed, wherein the local multiplex provides an aggregatelocal outbound traffic.

In a fifth embodiment, the apparatus for blackout and retunedistribution includes a wide area multiplex receiving a non-blacked outfeed and a blacked out feed, the wide area multiplex providing anaggregate wide area outbound traffic; a local multiplex receiving aretune feed corresponding to a retune programming for the blacked outfeed and a local feed; and, a combiner coupled to the wide areamultiplex and the local multiplex, the combiner receiving thenon-blacked out feed, the retune feed and a local feed, wherein thecombiner provides an aggregate outbound traffic.

In a sixth embodiment, the apparatus for blackout and retunedistribution includes a first wide area multiplex receiving anon-blacked out feed and a blacked out feed, the first wide areamultiplex providing a first aggregate wide area signal; a localreplacement plus retune service multiplex receiving a local replacementfeed and a retune feed corresponding to a retune programming for theblacked out feed; a wide area combiner coupled to the first wide areamultiplex and the local replacement plus retune service multiplex, thewide area combiner receiving the non-blacked out feed, the blacked outfeed, the retune feed and the local replacement feed; a requantizercoupled to the wide area combiner to receive the local replacement feedand the retune feed, the requantizer generating a requantized localservice from the local replacement feed and the retune feed; and, alocal combiner coupled to the requantizer and the combiner, the localcombiner receiving the blacked out feed, the non-blacked out feed andthe requantized local service, wherein the local combiner provides anaggregate local outbound traffic including the blacked out feed, thenon-blacked out feed, and the requantized feed.

Other objects, features and advantages will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art from the following detailed description. It is to beunderstood, however, that the detailed description and specificexamples, while indicating preferred embodiments, are given by way ofillustration and not limitation. Many changes and modifications withinthe scope may be made without departing from the spirit thereof, and theinvention includes all such modifications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be more readily understood by referring to theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram for an apparatus for retune programmingredistribution wherein the retune programming redistribution is from thewide area operation infrastructure (WOI);

FIG. 2 is a diagram for a second apparatus for retune programmingredistribution, wherein retune programming is directly distributed tothe local area operation infrastructure (LOI);

FIG. 3 is a diagram for a third apparatus for retune programmingredistribution for hybrid retune programming distribution;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for a fourth apparatus for retune programmingredistribution, wherein a redistribution is originated from a fixedmultiplex WOI

FIG. 5 is a diagram for a fifth apparatus for retune programmingredistribution, wherein the retune programming distribution is performedwith a dual carriage distribution configuration including a clientretune;

FIG. 6 is a diagram for a sixth apparatus for retune programmingredistribution, wherein the retune programming redistribution is fromthe WOI but includes a local replacement multiplex with retune;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an access point and an access terminalusable to provide communication between a transmitter and a receiver,respectively; and,

FIG. 8-13 are flow diagrams illustrating the operation of the variousembodiments of the apparatus for retune programming redistribution.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of thedrawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description provides a method and apparatus in a media broadcastsystem for supporting blackout and retuning during substitution ofprogramming due to contractual obligation in a geographical area. Thegeographical area may be defined by coordinates, markets, or ZIP codes.Blackout refers to the exclusion of wide area programming for thegeographical area that is excluded from an otherwise wide areaprogramming distribution of a specific service. A feed refers to aspecific multiplex of channels. Under this definition the wide areaoperation infrastructure (WOI) may create multiple “feeds” that supportspecific geographic areas. A retune feed contains alternate programmingfor a blacked out region. In one embodiment, there is an automatedmessaging system that commands the satellite receiver at a cable headend to retune to another service in the same multiplex, differenttransponder, or different satellite to find the alternate programming.An “in-band” control signal for the retune system is carried in the samephysical channel as the programming. The location control of thesatellite retune system can be quite fine (e.g., one ZIP code). Thesystem is expected to operate on a local area operation infrastructure(LOI) by LOI basis—e.g., many ZIP codes. This may be acceptable toprogrammers, since a LOI's area is nominally a single market. In oneembodiment, the system implements an single frequency network (SFN).

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 for redistribution of retune programmingfrom the WOI, wherein the retune programming is captured at the WOI anddistributed to one or more LOIs. The replacement programming ismultiplexed onto a retune feed that is similar to a wide area feed, butcontains the replacement programming. This adds at least one full andquite possibly two multiplexes to the outbound traffic of the WOI foreach blackout active within the system at a given point in time. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, the programming from cable programmers 1-6 aremultiplexed through a set of wide area multiplexes, including a widearea multiplex #1 102, a wide area multiplex #2 104, a wide areamultiplex #3 106 and a wide area multiplex #4 108 multiplex. Programming114 from cable programmers 4-6 have blacked out content, but eachproviding respective retune feeds that are multiplexed using a wide areamultiplex. Thus, wide area multiplex #2 104 multiplexes programming 112from cable programmer 1-3 as well as blacked out content from cableprogrammers 5 and 6, and, further, also multiplexes a retune feed 116from cable programmer 4. Similarly, wide area multiplex #3 106multiplexes the content from cable programmer 1-3 as well as the blackedout content from cable programmers 4 and 6, but, further, alsomultiplexes a retune feed 118 from cable programmer 5. Lastly, wide areamultiplex #4 108 multiplexes the content from cable programmer 1-3 aswell as the blacked out content from cable programmers 4 and 5, and,further, also multiplexes a retune feed 120 from cable programmer 6. Theoutputs from the multiplexes are combined in a combiner 110 to producethe aggregate WOI outbound traffic sent to each LOI. In one embodiment,dynamic bandwidth allocation may be applied for each wide areamultiplex, but limited to the non-retune portion of each multiplex.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1, at the LOI, the aggregate WOI outboundtraffic, represented by a box labeled “combiner 110” in dotted linescorresponding to the aggregate WOI outbound traffic generated bycombiner 110 in the WOI the is received by a decombiner and wanted WOImultiplex selection module 132 that drops the signals from the unneededwide area (WOI) multiplexes sent to the LOI. A combiner 130 combines thesignals from decombiner and wanted WOI multiplex selection module 132and a local multiplex 134. Local multiplex 134 in turn combines thefeeds received from a group of local programmers 136. In one embodiment,dynamic bandwidth allocation may be used for the feed received fromgroup of local programmers 136. Combiner 130 then sends the receivedsignals as an aggregate LOI outbound traffic signal.

In one embodiment, the program keys for the retune programming may notneed to be different from the blacked out program, as long as theblacked out programming is not broadcast within the blacked out servicearea. However, someone wishing to circumvent the system may use awideband Internet connection to access the broadcasted programming fromanother, non-blacked out service area. In this case, the keys may needto be different to prevent access to programming in the blacked outservice area.

The approach illustrated by the system in FIG. 1 concentrates thehardware and software impact of retune into the WOI. The WOI has to beaware of each active retune and prepare an appropriate multiplex feed.The requirements with this approach are:

-   -   The WOI may have a complete set of compression and multiplex        equipment for each occurrence of a feed. The same media gets        compressed multiple times. Potentially, for example, the media        includes one east non-retune feed, one west non-retune feed,        plus at least one feed for each currently active instance of a        blackout. This duplication may ultimately exceed the capacity of        the distribution channel to carry all of the wide area sourced        programming. Thus, the number of retune events that can occur at        one time is dependent on the capacity of the distribution        channel.    -   Satellite receivers currently available for cable head end        applications retune according to their physical location—e.g.,        by ZIP code. The retune receivers in the WOI need to respond to        all retunes, and identify the affected area to the WOI, so the        appropriate LOI(s) can be notified and switch to the appropriate        retune feed. (There has to be upper level intelligence above the        receivers that controls which receiver supports a given retune        feed.)    -   The dynamic allocation of bandwidth to non-single feed network        (i.e., networks where there are multiple feeds for multiple time        zones, etc.) material potentially interferes with multiple        services in adjacent market areas. In one embodiment, the method        should probably use fixed bandwidth allocation during blackouts.

The principal advantages of the approach illustrated in FIG. 1 are:

-   -   No per retune feed satellite receivers are required at the LOI.        Thus, there is lower capital expense associated with this        approach.    -   The single feed network model is supported across non-blacked        out areas.

FIG. 2 illustrates a system 200 for retune programming redistributionfor direct distribution of programming subject to retune to the LOI,wherein retune programming from cable programmers that supports retune1-3 216 is captured at the LOI and included in a combiner 21 0. Theoutput from wide area multiplex 202 is a combination of non-blacked outfeeds received from cable programmers 204. Combiner 210 also receivesoutput from a wide area multiplex 202 and, through a local multiplex218, programming from local programmers 1-3 214 and cable programmersthat support retunes 1-3 216. In one embodiment, dynamic bandwidthallocation may be used for the non-blacked out feeds. In addition,dynamic bandwidth allocation may also be used for the feeds receivedfrom local programmers 1-3 214 and/or the retune programming receivedfrom cable programmers 1-3 216.

In system 200, the existing retune satellite receivers function inexactly the same manner as in a cable headend. The satellite receiverautomatically retunes from the blacked out feed to the retune feed at anappropriate time based on its location. This approach concentrates theimpact of retune in the LOI. The WOI has no knowledge of the presence ofa blackout on any given feed. The primary requirements with thisapproach are:

-   -   A “wide area” service may be identified as retune or non-retune.        If a “wide area” feed is identified as retune capable, it is        only carried in the local multiplexes. There is no SFN support        for channels that support retune at all. The coverage of the        wide area ads is reduced for services that utilize retune at all        times.    -   Every satellite feed with retune requires a satellite receiver        at each LOI to receive the retune programming, rather than one        each at the WOI. Additional satellite antennas are also required        at the LOI, because it is doubtful that the cable programmers        and the outbound WOI feed will share a satellite.

The advantages of this approach are:

-   -   It is relatively simple to implement.    -   The retune programming enjoys the benefits of dynamic bandwidth        allocation within the local multiplex.

FIG. 3 illustrates a system 300 for redistribution of retune programmingthat uses a hybrid LOI/WOI retune programming distribution scheme,wherein the WOI captures and inserts programming in the wide areamultiplex(s) whether the programming is subject to blackouts or not.Thus, as illustrated, the feed from cable programmer 1-N 304 is providedwith dynamic bandwidth allocation by a wide area multiplex 302, whilethe blacked out feed from cable programmer 1-N 306 is provided withfixed bandwidth allocation. Thus, in one embodiment, the use of dynamicbandwidth allocation on a given service is only enabled for servicesthat do not have an active blackout. When a blackout occurs the affectedservice is switched to a fixed allocation of bandwidth.

A combiner 310 receives a re-multiplexed feed from (1) a re-multiplex314 that combines the feed from wide area multiplex 302 with the retunedprogramming from cable programmers 1-N 312, wherein the retuneprogramming has fixed bandwidth; and, (2) programming from localprogrammers 1-N 316 through a local multiplex 308. Re-multiplex 314deletes the blacked out programming from wide area multiplex 302 andadds the fixed bandwidth retune programming. Thus, the LOI capturesretune programming and replaces the fixed bandwidth allocation of theservice under blackout with the locally captured and compressed retunefeed. It should be noted that because the service under blackout isbeing deleted and thus not ultimately broadcast to the LOI, this affectsthe benefits provided by the SFN as each LOI that is adjacent to thisLOI will be affected by the interference caused by this LOI notbroadcasting the same signal. This issue is encountered every time anLOI broadcasts a different signal than adjacent LOI(s).

The approach of system 300 of FIG. 3 splits the effort between the WOIand the LOI. The principal requirements with this approach are:

-   -   The WOI has to have a mechanism to determine when a retune is        pending. The messages are known to exist in the current cable        head end equipment. Access to those messages may be an issue.    -   The LOI has to have a mechanism to determine when a retune is        pending. The messages are known to exist in the current cable        equipment. Access to those messages may be an issue.    -   The effectiveness of dynamic bandwidth allocation is reduced,        for the WOI sourced feeds due to the static bandwidth allocation        of channels currently subject to retune.    -   Each LOI must have a satellite receiver per channel that can        have retune.

The primary advantages of this system are:

-   -   The number of multiplexes from the WOI stays constant.    -   The SFN feature for the non-blacked out areas is supported.

FIG. 4 illustrates a system 400 for redistribution of retune programmingwhere there are fixed multiplex WOI originated redistribution of retuneprogramming. A wide area multiplex 404 receives programming from cableprogrammer 1-N 406 that may include dynamic bandwidth allocation in oneembodiment, and cable programmer with active black out 1-N 408 withfixed bandwidth allocation. In one embodiment, dynamic bandwidthallocation is used for the programming received from cable programmer1-N 406 and fixed bandwidth allocation for the programming received fromcable programmer with active black out 1-N 408. A combiner 402 combinesthe feed from wide area multiplex 404 with fixed bandwidth retuneprogramming from cable programmer 1-N 410. Thus, the WOI captures thereplacement feeds and compresses them as a fixed bandwidth services. TheWOI transmits the wide area feeds as before, but the services with ablackout are fixed bandwidth services. The retune programming isdistributed to the LOI(s) along with the wide area feeds.

A splitter 428 at the LOI splits the feed received from wide areamultiplex 404 into fixed bandwidth feeds from services with black out424 and fixed bandwidth feeds of retune programming 426. A re-multiplex422 deletes the blacked out feed and adds the retune feed. A combiner420 receives the feeds from re-multiplex 422 as well as local programmer1-N 430 through a local multiplex 432. Thus, in system 400, the LOIreplaces the blacked out programming with the designated retune service.

Similar to system 100, the approach of system 400 concentrates most ofthe hardware and software impact of retune into the WOI. The WOI has tobe aware of each active retune and prepare an appropriate feed. Therequirements with this approach are:

-   -   The WOI must have an additional set of compression equipment for        each service capable of retune programming.    -   The satellite receivers currently available for cable head end        applications retune according to their geographical location.        The retune receivers needed for the WOI need to respond to all        retunes, and identify the effected area to the WOI, so the        appropriate service areas can be notified and switch to the        retune feed.    -   There is some loss of efficiency within the wide area multiplex,        when a retune event is occurring.

The principal advantages of this method are:

-   -   The capital expense for the system is minimized.    -   The SFN feature is maintained for wide area services that        support blackout and retune.    -   It is probable that all the outbound WOI traffic to the LOI(s)        can still fit in one transponder.    -   It is possible to completely avoid all time stamp correction in        the LOI, since the various encoders in the WOI can communicate        with each other.

FIG. 5 illustrates a system 500 for redistribution of retune programmingusing a dual carriage architecture (i.e., system 500 carries both theservices with black out and retune) with client retune. A wide areamultiplex 502 receives feeds from cable programmers 1-N 504 andaggregates it with feeds from cable programmers with active blackout 1-N506. Thus, in this embodiment, the blacked out programming is carried inthe wide area feed at all times, and all areas.

A local multiplex 514 receives retune programming from cable programmer1-N 516 and feeds from local programmer 1-N 518, both with dynamicbandwidth allocation. Thus, in one embodiment, the retune programming iscarried in the local feed, when a blackout is active for the servicearea of a specific LOI. A combiner 510 receives and multiplexes the feedfrom wide area multiplex 512 and local multiplex 514. The client isinstructed to tune to the retune programming, when it is active in theLOI's specific service area.

This approach concentrates most of the hardware and software impact ofretune into the LOI and the client. The LOI has to be aware of eachactive retune and insert it into local multiplex 514. The LOI has tonotify the client, when to retune to the alternate programming. Therequirements with this approach are:

-   -   Each LOI has to have a satellite receiver for each service that        can have retune.    -   The LOI has to determine the presence of retune and allocate        bandwidth for the feed.    -   The retune programming consumes some of the local channel        bandwidth.    -   Digital rights management has to be modified to force the client        to switch to the retune feed.

The advantages of this approach are:

-   -   The insertion of the retune media does not interfere with the        wide area feed.    -   The wide area and local feeds can maintain the use of dynamic        bandwidth allocation for all services.    -   The wide area feed maintain SFN functionality even during        blackouts. Adjacent blacked out areas do not interfere with the        wide area feed.

A system 600 for redistribution of retune programming that adds a localreplacement with retune multiplex 606 is shown in FIG. 6. System 600 issimilar to system 100 of FIG. 1 in that the retune programming iscaptured at the WOI, and distributed to the LOI(s). Specifically, aplurality of WOI multiplexes as exemplified by a WOI multiplex #1 602and a WOI multiplex #2 604 creates multiplexed feeds that are sent to acombiner 620. The multiplexed feeds are created from non-blacked outfeeds 608 and 612 and blacked out feeds 610 and 614. The replacementprogramming is multiplexed onto a local replacement/retune feed by awide area combiner 638, which is similar to a wide area feed, butcontains the replacement programming. This adds one full multiplex tothe outbound traffic of the WOI. In this embodiment, the per programkeys for the retune programming may not need to be different from theblacked out program as long as the blacked out programming is notbroadcast within the blacked out service area. A wideband Internetconnection might allow access to the material, in which case the keysmay need to be different.

This approach concentrates the hardware and software impact of retuneinto the WOI. In addition, the WOI has to be aware of each active retuneand incorporate the all retune feeds into the local replacement/retunefeed. However, even though the effort for implementing the systemimpacts the WOI more than the LOI, the software effort in the LOI isincreased as the local replacement/retune feed for transmission in theLOI (created by local replacement with retune multiplex 606 at the WOI)must be extracted and requantized at the LOI. For example, continuing torefer to FIG. 6, in one embodiment, a combiner 628 at the LOI receives arequantized feed from a requantize module 630, the requantized feedbeing generated by dropping unneeded services 632. In one embodiment,combiner 628 receives the requantized feed from a local multiplex 636,which also receives optional local services 634 and multiplexes anyoptional local services with the requantized feed before providing it tocombiner 628. In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, where the LOI issupposed to receive the feed from WOI multiplex #1 602, combiner 628creates the aggregate LOI outbound traffic from what it receives fromlocal multiplex 636 and the feed from WOI multiplex #1 602 that isextracted from the aggregate WOI outbound traffic provided by combiner608. In one embodiment, dynamic bandwidth allocation may be used for therequantized feed and/or the optional local service feeds.

System 600 provides bounded bitrate output, and limits the number oftotal multiplexes to the number of WOI's+1. The requirements for thisapproach include:

-   -   The WOI must have a complete set of compression and multiplex        equipment for each occurrence of a retune feed.    -   The LOI must demultiplex and re-quantize the Local        Replacement/Retune feed at each LOI, where retune is active, or        any of the replacement programming is being distributed.    -   The WOI has to have a high level knowledge of active blackouts        and retunes, and make sure that the appropriate content is        available in each retune feed. This functionality can be        automated, but can operate in a partially manual mode.    -   The local programming shares bandwidth with the retune        programming, when retune is active. There may be some        degradation of local programming quality during the retune.

The advantages provided by system 600 include:

-   -   No per retune feed satellite receivers are required at the LOI.        (Lowers capital expense.)    -   The LOI feed is able to maintain the benefits of statistical        multiplexing during retune.    -   Local Replacement programming is supported in markets that        cannot justify the expense of locally sourced content.    -   SFN is supported across the non-blacked out areas.

Six embodiment of blackout and retune systems have been presented tosupport blackout and retune within a wireless content systemarchitecture. Option 1: central redistribution of retune programming, asshown in system 100 of FIG. 1, makes the number of multiplexes outboundfrom the WOI potentially unconstrained and is complex to implement.Option 2: direct distribution of retune programming to the LOI, as shownin system 200 of FIG. 2, is simple to implement, but has high capitalexpense in the LOI. Also, the associated loss of SFN support may beunacceptable to retune programmers. Option 3: hybrid LOI/WOI approach,as shown in system 300 of FIG. 3, retains SFN where possible, but hasthe high capital expense in the LOI, and is more complex to implement.Option 4: fixed multiplex redistribution from the WOI, as shown insystem 400 of FIG. 4, minimizes capital expenditures, and retains theSFN feature, at the cost of some efficiency. Option 5: Dual carriagewith client retune, as shown in system 500 of FIG. 5, maintains dynamicbandwidth allocation on both feeds and support SFN, at the cost ofbandwidth or quality for the local services. Option 6: WOIredistribution including local replacement & retune with requantization,as shown in system 600 of FIG. 6, which adds a local replacementmultiplex with retune and includes a bounded bitrate, limits the numberof total multiplexes to the number of WOI's+1, but adds requantizecomplexity in the LOI

Table 1 below provides a summary of the 5 described embodiments. TABLE 1System Comparison Attribute Supports Retune Wide Maximizes VariationEvent Area Benefits of in WOI Impacts Single Dynamic out Local FrequencyBandwidth Capital Development bound Bandwidth System Network AllocationExpense Expense data rate Allocation Option 1: WOI Yes* Yes* ModerateHigh High No Redistribution >>2:1 Option 2: Direct to No Yes High LowNone No LOI Option 3: Hybrid Yes No High Moderate None No LOI/WOI Option4: WOI Yes No Lowest High Low No Redistribution <<2:1 Fixed BandwidthOption 5: Dual Yes Yes High Low None Yes Carriage with Client RetuneOption 6: WOI Yes Yes Moderate Moderate None Moderate RedistributionLocal Replacement & Retune With Requantization*Not possible concurrently.

Given the described embodiments, one possible approach that may be takento implement a system in accordance with one embodiment is to begin witha system that utilizes direct distribution and transition to a systemthat has fixed multiplex redistribution at a later date, if phasing inSFN support for retune channels is acceptable to the impactedprogrammers. To some extent, the loss of wide area SFN is less importantif service may be started up in disjoint service areas.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of an access point 704 x that may be usedto transmit the signals in an LOI, and an access terminal 702 x that maybe used to receive the transmitted signals. In one embodiment, clientdevices do not need capability for transmitting information back to thenetwork as they are, in essence, only programming receivers. Thus, noreturn paths from clients (also referred to as reverse links) arerequired and the clients do not need to implement the described modulesor units necessary for transmission functionality. Accordingly, theaccess points in this embodiment do not need to implement the modules orunits necessary for reception functionality. In another embodiment, thesystem may allow two-way communication between access points andclients, and thus the access points and clients will implement necessaryunits or modules for receipt and transmission, respectively. Of course,in the latter embodiment, a heterogeneous system may be implementedwhere clients that are designed to transmit data co-exist with clientsthat are designed only to be receivers.

For the reverse link, at access terminal 702 x, a transmit (TX) dataprocessor 714 receives traffic data from a data buffer 712, processes(e.g., encodes, interleaves, and symbol maps) each data packet based ona selected coding and modulation scheme, and provides data symbols. Adata symbol is a modulation symbol for data, and a pilot symbol is amodulation symbol for pilot (which is known a priori). A modulator 716receives the data symbols, pilot symbols, and possibly signaling for thereverse link, performs (e.g., OFDM) modulation and/or other processingas specified by the system, and provides a stream of output chips. Atransmitter unit (TMTR) 718 processes (e.g., converts to analog,filters, amplifies, and frequency upconverts) the output chip stream andgenerates a modulated signal, which is transmitted from an antenna 720.

At access point 704 x, the modulated signals transmitted by accessterminal 702 x and other terminals in communication with access point704 x are received by an antenna 752. A receiver unit (RCVR) 754processes (e.g., conditions and digitizes) the received signal fromantenna 752 and provides received samples. A demodulator (Demod) 756processes (e.g., demodulates and detects) the received samples andprovides detected data symbols, which are noisy estimate of the datasymbols transmitted by the terminals to access point 704 x. A receive(RX) data processor 758 processes (e.g., symbol demaps, deinterleaves,and decodes) the detected data symbols for each terminal and providesdecoded data for that terminal.

For the forward link, at access point 704 x, traffic data is processedby a TX data processor 760 to generate data symbols. A modulator 762receives the data symbols, pilot symbols, and signaling for the forwardlink, performs (e.g., OFDM) modulation and/or other pertinentprocessing, and provides an output chip stream, which is furtherconditioned by a transmitter unit 764 and transmitted from antenna 752.The forward link signaling may include power control commands generatedby a controller 770 for all terminals transmitting on the reverse linkto access point 704 x. At access terminal 702 x, the modulated signaltransmitted by access point 704 x is received by antenna 720,conditioned and digitized by a receiver unit 722, and processed by ademodulator 724 to obtain detected data symbols. An RX data processor726 processes the detected data symbols and provides decoded data forthe terminal and the forward link signaling. Controller 730 receives thepower control commands, and controls data transmission and transmitpower on the reverse link to access point 704 x. Controllers 730 and 770direct the operation of access terminal 702 x and access point 704 x,respectively. Memory units 732 and 772 store program codes and data usedby controllers 730 and 770, respectively.

An “access terminal” refers to a device providing voice and/or dataconnectivity to a user. An access terminal may be connected to acomputing device such as a laptop computer or desktop computer, or itmay be a self contained device such as a personal digital assistant. Anaccess terminal can also be called a subscriber unit, mobile station,mobile, remote station, remote terminal, user terminal, user agent, oruser equipment. An access terminal may be a subscriber station, wirelessdevice, cellular telephone, PCS telephone, a cordless telephone, aSession Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL)station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device havingwireless connection capability, or other processing device connected toa wireless modem.

An “access point” refers to a device in an access network thatcommunicates over the air-interface, through one or more sectors, withthe access terminals. The access point acts as a router between theaccess terminal and the rest of the access network, which may include anIP network, by converting received air-interface frames to IP packets.Access point also coordinates the management of attributes for the airinterface.

The disclosed embodiments may be applied to any one or combinations ofthe following technologies: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)systems, Multiple-Carrier CDMA (MC-CDMA), Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA),High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), Time Division Multiple Access(TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, andOrthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems.

FIG. 8 illustrates a method 800 for blackout and retune distributionimplemented by the system of FIG. 6, including step 802, with the LOIreceiving a first multiplexed feed comprising a blacked out feed and alocal service feed; step 804, with the LOI receiving a secondmultiplexed feed, the second multiplexed feed comprising the localservice feed that has been requantized; and, step 806, with the LOIcombining the blacked out feed with the requantized local service feedfor transmission as a part of an aggregate local outbound feed.

FIG. 9 illustrates a method 900 for blackout and retune distributionimplemented by the system of FIG. 6, including step 902, with the LOIreceiving a local replacement program; step 904, receiving a retuneservice; and step 906 generating a stream comprising at least one of thereceived plurality of programs, the received local replacement program,and the received retune service.

FIG. 10 illustrates a method 1000 for blackout and retune distributionimplemented by the system of FIG. 1, including where the WOI, in step1002, receiving a non-blacked out feed and a blacked out feed; step1004, receiving a retune feed corresponding to a retune programming forthe blacked out feed; and step 1006, combining the received non-blackedout feed, the received blacked out feed and the received retune feed toprovide an aggregate wide area outbound traffic. Further, the methodincludes step 1008, separating the aggregate wide area outbound trafficinto the retune feed, the blacked out feed and the non-blacked out feed;step 1010, receiving the retune feed and the blacked out feed; step1012, replacing the blacked out feed with the retune feed; and step1014, providing an aggregate local outbound traffic.

FIG. 11 illustrates a method 1100 for blackout and retune distributionimplemented by the system of FIG. 2, with wide area multiplex 202, atthe WOI, step 1102, receiving a plurality of non blacked out feeds; step1104, applying dynamic bandwidth allocation to the plurality of nonblacked out feeds; and, step 1106, combining the plurality of nonblacked out feeds for transmission as an aggregate wide area outboundfeed. Further, in the LOI, step 1108, receiving an aggregate wide areaoutbound feed comprising a plurality of non blacked out feeds; step1110, receiving a plurality of local programming feeds; step 1112,receiving a plurality of retune feeds; and, step 1114, combining thereceived aggregate wide area outbound feed, the received plurality oflocal programming feeds, and the received plurality of retune feeds fortransmission an aggregate local area outbound feed

FIG. 12 illustrates a method 1200 for blackout and retune distributionimplemented by the system of FIG. 3, with wide area multiplex 302, atthe WOI, step 1202, receiving a plurality of non blacked out feeds; step1204, applying dynamic bandwidth allocation to the plurality of nonblacked out feeds; step 1206, receiving a plurality of blacked outfeeds; step 1208, applying fixed bandwidth allocation to the pluralityof non blacked out feeds; and, step 1210, combining the plurality of nonblacked out feeds and the plurality of blacked out feeds fortransmission as an aggregate wide area outbound feed. Further, the LOI,in step 1202, receiving a remultiplexed feed comprising an aggregatewide area outbound feed and a plurality of retune feeds; step 1204,receiving a multiplexed feed comprising a plurality of local programfeeds; step 1216, applying dynamic bandwidth allocation to the pluralityof local program feeds; and, step 1218 combining the remultiplexed feedand the multiplexed feed for transmission as an aggregate wide areaoutbound feed.

FIG. 13 illustrates a method 1300 for blackout and retune distributionimplemented by the system of FIG. 4, with wide area multiplex 302, atthe WOI, step 1302, receiving a plurality of non blacked out feeds;1304, applying dynamic bandwidth allocation to the plurality of nonblacked out feeds; step 1306, receiving a plurality of blacked outfeeds; step 1308, applying fixed bandwidth allocation to the pluralityof non blacked out feeds; step 1310, receiving a fixed bandwidth retuneprogram feed; and, step 1312, combining the plurality of non blacked outfeeds, the plurality of blacked out feeds, and the fixed bandwidthretune program feed. Further, the LOI, in step 1314, receiving aremultiplexed feed comprising an aggregate wide area outbound feed and aplurality of retune feeds; step 1316, receiving a multiplexed feedcomprising a plurality of local program feeds; step 1318, applyingdynamic bandwidth allocation to the plurality of local program feeds;and, step 1320, combining the remultiplexed feed and the multiplexedfeed for transmission as an aggregate wide area outbound feed.

It should be noted that the methods described herein may be implementedon a variety of communication hardware, processors and systems known byone of ordinary skill in the art. For example, the general requirementfor the client to operate as described herein is that the client has adisplay to display content and information, a processor to control theoperation of the client and a memory for storing data and programsrelated to the operation of the client. In one embodiment, the client isa cellular phone. In another embodiment, the client is a handheldcomputer having communications capabilities. In yet another embodiment,the client is a personal computer having communications capabilities.

The various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, and circuitsdescribed in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may beimplemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmablelogic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor,but, in the alternative, the processor may be any conventionalprocessor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processormay also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., acombination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality ofmicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with theembodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in asoftware module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two.A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory,EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, aCD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Anexemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor, such that theprocessor can read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in anASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, theprocessor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in auser terminal.

Various modifications to these embodiments may be readily apparent tothose skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein maybe applied to other embodiments, e.g., in an instant messaging serviceor any general wireless data communication applications, withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, thedescription is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shownherein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with theprinciples and novel features disclosed herein. The word “exemplary” isused exclusively herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, orillustration.” Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is notnecessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over otherembodiments.

A method for blackout and retune distribution including receiving afirst wide area multiplexed feed, the first wide area multiplexed feedincluding a blacked out feed; and generating a requantized local servicefeed from a local replacement plus retune service feed, the localreplacement plus retune service feed having a retune feed correspondingto a retune programming for the blacked out feed, wherein therequantized local service feed is to be combined with the first widearea multiplexed feed for transmission as a part of an aggregate localoutbound traffic.

A blackout and retune distribution apparatus including means forreceiving a first wide area multiplexed feed, the first wide areamultiplexed feed including a blacked out feed; and means for generatinga requantized local service feed from a local replacement plus retuneservice feed, the local replacement plus retune service feed having aretune feed corresponding to a retune programming for the blacked outfeed, wherein the requantized local service feed is to be combined withthe first wide area multiplexed feed for transmission as a part of anaggregate local outbound traffic.

An apparatus for blackout and retune distribution including arequantizer coupled to a wide area combiner to receive a retune feedfrom the wide area combiner, the requantizer generating a requantizedlocal service feed from the local replacement feed and the retune feed;and, a local combiner coupled to the requantizer and the wide areacombiner, the local combiner receiving the requantized local servicefeed and a blacked out feed from the wide area combiner, wherein thelocal combiner provides an aggregate local outbound traffic includingthe blacked out feed and the requantized local service feed.

A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, thestored instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processorto perform a method for blackout and retune distribution, the methodincluding receiving a first wide area multiplexed feed, the first widearea multiplexed feed including a blacked out feed; and generating arequantized local service feed from a local replacement plus retuneservice feed, the local replacement plus retune service feed having aretune feed corresponding to a retune programming for the blacked outfeed, wherein the requantized local service feed is to be combined withthe first wide area multiplexed feed for transmission as a part of anaggregate local outbound traffic.

The embodiments described above are exemplary embodiments. Those skilledin the art may now make numerous uses of, and departures from, theabove-described embodiments without departing from the inventiveconcepts disclosed herein. Accordingly, the description is to be definedsolely by the scope of the following claims.

1. A method for blackout and retune distribution comprising: receiving afirst multiplexed feed comprising a blacked out feed and a local servicefeed; receiving a second multiplexed feed, the second multiplexed feedcomprising the local service feed that has been requantized; and,combining the blacked out feed with the requantized local service feedfor transmission as a part of an aggregate local outbound feed.
 2. Themethod for blackout and retune distribution of claim 1, furthercomprising applying dynamic bandwidth allocation to the requantizedlocal service feed.
 3. The method for blackout and retune distributionof claim 1, wherein receiving the local service feed comprises receivinga plurality of retune feeds.
 4. The method for blackout and retunedistribution of claim 3, further dropping unneeded services from theplurality of retune feeds.
 5. The method for blackout and retunedistribution of claim 1, wherein receiving the first multiplexed feedcomprises receiving a non-blacked out feed.
 6. The method for blackoutand retune distribution of claim 1, further comprising requantizing thelocal service feed before receiving the second multiplexed feed.
 7. Themethod for blackout and retune distribution of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving at least one optional local service feed; andmultiplexing the optional local service feed and the requantized localservice feed.
 8. The method for blackout and retune distribution ofclaim 7, further comprising applying dynamic bandwidth allocation to theat least one optional local service feed.
 9. A method for blackout andretune distribution comprising: receiving a plurality of programs;receiving a local replacement program; receiving a retune service;generating a stream comprising at least one of the received plurality ofprograms, the received local replacement program, and the receivedretune service.
 10. A method for blackout and retune distributioncomprising: receiving a non-blacked out feed and a blacked out feed;receiving a retune feed corresponding to a retune programming for theblacked out feed; combining the received non-blacked out feed, thereceived blacked out feed and the received retune feed to provide anaggregate wide area outbound traffic.
 11. A method for blackout andretune distribution comprising: separating the aggregate wide areaoutbound traffic into a retune feed, a blacked out feed and anon-blacked out feed; receiving the retune feed and the blacked outfeed; replacing the blacked out feed with the retune feed; and,providing an aggregate local outbound traffic.
 12. The method forblackout and retune distribution of claim 10, wherein the non-blackedout feed is transmitted using dynamic bandwidth allocation.
 13. Themethod for blackout and retune distribution of claim 10, wherein thereceiving blacked out feed comprises of using fixed bandwidthallocation.
 14. The method for blackout and retune distribution of claim10, wherein receiving the retune feed comprises of using dynamicbandwidth allocation.
 15. The method for blackout and retunedistribution of claim 10, wherein receiving the retune feed comprises ofusing fixed bandwidth allocation.
 16. A method for blackout and retunedistribution comprising: receiving a plurality of non blacked out feeds;applying dynamic bandwidth allocation to the plurality of non blackedout feeds; and, combining the plurality of non blacked out feeds; fortransmission as an aggregate wide area outbound feed.
 17. A method forblackout and retune distribution comprising: receiving an aggregate widearea outbound feed comprising a plurality of non blacked out feeds;receiving a plurality of local programming feeds; receiving a pluralityof retune feeds; and, combining the received aggregate wide areaoutbound feed, the received plurality of local programming feeds, andthe received plurality of retune feeds for transmission an aggregatelocal area outbound feed.
 18. A method for blackout and retunedistribution comprising: receiving a plurality of non blacked out feeds;applying dynamic bandwidth allocation to the plurality of non blackedout feeds; receiving a plurality of blacked out feeds; applying fixedbandwidth allocation to the plurality of non blacked out feeds;combining the plurality of non blacked out feeds and the plurality ofblacked out feeds; and transmitting the combined non blacked out andblacked out feeds as an aggregate wide area outbound feed.
 19. A methodfor blackout and retune distribution comprising: receiving aremultiplexed feed comprising an aggregate wide area outbound feed and aplurality of retune feeds; receiving a multiplexed feed comprising aplurality of local program feeds; applying dynamic bandwidth allocationto the plurality of local program feeds; and, combining theremultiplexed feed and the multiplexed feed; and transmitting thecombined remultiplexed feed and the multiplexed feed as an aggregatewide area outbound feed.
 20. A method for blackout and retunedistribution comprising: receiving a plurality of non blacked out feeds;applying dynamic bandwidth allocation to the plurality of non blackedout feeds; receiving a plurality of blacked out feeds; applying fixedbandwidth allocation to the plurality of non blacked out feeds;receiving a fixed bandwidth retune program feed; and, combining theplurality of non blacked out feeds, the plurality of blacked out feeds,and the fixed bandwidth retune program feed.
 21. An apparatus forblackout and retune distribution comprising: means for receiving a firstmultiplexed feed comprising a blacked out feed and a local service feed;means for receiving a second multiplexed feed, the second multiplexedfeed comprising the local service feed that has been requantized; and,means for combining the blacked out feed with the requantized localservice feed; and means for transmitting the combined blacked out feedand requantized local service feed as a part of an aggregate localoutbound feed.
 22. The apparatus for blackout and retune distribution ofclaim 21, further comprising means for applying dynamic bandwidthallocation to the requantized local service feed.
 23. The apparatus forblackout and retune distribution of claim 21, wherein the means forreceiving the local service feed comprises means for receiving aplurality of retune feeds.
 24. The apparatus for blackout and retunedistribution of claim 23, further comprising means for dropping unneededservices from the plurality of retune feeds.
 25. The apparatus forblackout and retune distribution of claim 21, wherein the means forreceiving the first multiplexed feed comprises means for receiving anon-blacked out feed.
 26. The apparatus for blackout and retunedistribution of claim 21, further comprising means for requantizing thelocal service feed before receiving the second multiplexed feed.
 27. Theapparatus for blackout and retune distribution of claim 21, furthercomprising: means for receiving at least one optional local servicefeed; and means for multiplexing the optional local service feed and therequantized local service feed.
 28. The apparatus for blackout andretune distribution of claim 27, further comprising applying dynamicbandwidth allocation to the at least one optional local service feed.29. A blackout and retune distribution apparatus comprising: means forreceiving a first wide area multiplexed feed, the first wide areamultiplexed feed comprising a blacked out feed; and means for generatinga requantized local service feed from a local replacement plus retuneservice feed, the local replacement plus retune service feed comprisinga retune feed corresponding to a retune programming for the blacked outfeed, wherein the requantized local service feed is to be combined withthe first wide area multiplexed feed for transmission as a part of anaggregate local outbound traffic.
 30. The blackout and retunedistribution apparatus of claim 29, further comprising applying dynamicbandwidth allocation to the requantized local service feed.
 31. Theblackout and retune distribution apparatus of claim 29, wherein thelocal replacement plus retune service feed comprises a plurality ofretune feeds and further comprising means for dropping unneeded servicesfrom the plurality of retune service feeds.
 32. The blackout and retunedistribution apparatus of claim 29, wherein the first wide areamultiplexed feed further comprising a non-blacked out feed.
 33. Theblackout and retune distribution apparatus of claim 29, wherein themeans for generating the requantized local service feed comprises: meansfor receiving an aggregate wide area operation infrastructure (WOI)traffic feed comprising the local replacement plus retune service feedand the first wide area multiplexed feed; and means for extracting theretune feed.
 34. The blackout and retune distribution apparatus of claim33, wherein the aggregate WOI traffic feed comprises a second wide areamultiplexed feed and the means for generating the requantized localservice feed further comprises means for extracting the first wide areamultiplexed feed from the aggregate WOI traffic feed.
 35. The blackoutand retune distribution apparatus of claim 29, further comprising: meansfor receiving at least one optional local service feed; and means formultiplexing the optional local service feed and the requantized localservice feed for combination with the first wide area multiplexed feedfor transmission as part of an aggregate local outbound traffic.
 36. Theblackout and retune distribution apparatus of claim 35, furthercomprising applying dynamic bandwidth allocation to the at least oneoptional local service feed.
 37. A computer-readable medium havinginstructions stored thereon, the stored instructions, when executed by aprocessor, cause the processor to perform a method for blackout andretune distribution, the method comprising: receiving a firstmultiplexed feed comprising a blacked out feed and a local service feed;receiving a second multiplexed feed, the second multiplexed feedcomprising the local service feed that has been requantized; and,combining the blacked out feed with the requantized local service feedfor transmission as a part of an aggregate local outbound feed.
 38. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 37, further comprising applyingdynamic bandwidth allocation to the requantized local service feed. 39.The computer-readable medium of claim 38, wherein receiving the localservice feed comprises receiving a plurality of retune feeds.
 40. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 39, further dropping unneeded servicesfrom the plurality of retune feeds.
 41. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 37, wherein receiving the first multiplexed feed comprisesreceiving a non-blacked out feed.
 42. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 37, further comprising requantizing the local service feed beforereceiving the second multiplexed feed.
 43. The computer-readable mediumof claim 37, further comprising: receiving at least one optional localservice feed; and multiplexing the optional local service feed and therequantized local service feed.
 44. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 43, further comprising applying dynamic bandwidth allocation tothe at least one optional local service feed.
 45. A computer-readablemedium having instructions stored thereon, the stored instructions, whenexecuted by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method forblackout and retune distribution, the method comprising: receiving afirst wide area multiplexed feed, the first wide area multiplexed feedcomprising a blacked out feed; and generating a requantized localservice feed from a local replacement plus retune service feed, thelocal replacement plus retune service feed comprising a retune feedcorresponding to a retune programming for the blacked out feed, whereinthe requantized local service feed is to be combined with the first widearea multiplexed feed for transmission as a part of an aggregate localoutbound traffic.
 46. The computer-readable medium of claim 45, furthercomprising applying dynamic bandwidth allocation to the requantizedlocal service feed.
 47. The computer-readable medium of claim 45,wherein the local replacement plus retune service feed comprises aplurality of retune feeds and the method further comprising droppingunneeded services from the plurality of retune service feeds.
 48. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 45, wherein the first wide areamultiplexed feed further comprising a non-blacked out feed.
 49. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 45, wherein generating the requantizedlocal service feed comprises: receiving an aggregate wide area operationinfrastructure (WOI) traffic feed comprising the local replacement plusretune service feed and the first wide area multiplexed feed; andextracting the retune feed.
 50. The computer-readable medium of claim49, wherein the aggregate WOI traffic feed comprises a second wide areamultiplexed feed and generating the requantized local service feedfurther comprises extracting the first wide area multiplexed feed fromthe aggregate WOI traffic feed.
 51. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 45, further comprising: receiving at least one optional localservice feed; and multiplexing the optional local service feed and therequantized local service feed for combination with the first wide areamultiplexed feed for transmission as part of an aggregate local outboundtraffic.
 52. The computer-readable medium of claim 51, furthercomprising applying dynamic bandwidth allocation to the at least oneoptional local service feed.
 53. An apparatus for blackout and retunedistribution comprising: a requantizer coupled to a wide area combinerto receive a retune feed from the wide area combiner, the requantizergenerating a requantized local service feed from the retune feed; and, alocal combiner coupled to the requantizer and the wide area combiner,the local combiner receiving the requantized local service feed and ablacked out feed from the wide area combiner, wherein the local combinerprovides an aggregate local outbound traffic comprising the blacked outfeed and the requantized local service feed.
 54. The apparatus forblackout and retune distribution of 53, further comprising a first widearea multiplex coupled to the wide area combiner, the first wide areamultiplex receiving the blacked out feed and providing the blacked outfeed to the wide area combiner.
 55. The apparatus for blackout andretune distribution of 53, further comprising a local replacement plusretune service multiplex coupled to the wide area combiner, the localreplacement plus retune service multiplex receiving the retune feed, theretune feed comprising a retune programming for the blacked out feed.56. The apparatus for blackout and retune distribution of 55, whereinthe wide area combiner is coupled to the first wide area multiplex andthe local replacement plus retune service multiplex.
 57. The apparatusfor blackout and retune distribution of 53, further comprising a localmultiplex coupled to the requantizer and the local combiner, wherein thelocal combiner is coupled to the requantizer through the localmultiplex.
 58. The apparatus for blackout and retune distribution of 53,wherein dynamic bandwidth allocation is applied to the requantized localservice.
 59. The apparatus for blackout and retune distribution of 53,wherein local combiner is coupled to at least one optional local servicefeed.
 60. The apparatus for blackout and retune distribution of 59,further comprising a local multiplex coupled to the local combiner,wherein the local combiner is coupled to the at least one optional localservice feed through the local multiplex.
 61. The apparatus for blackoutand retune distribution of 59, wherein dynamic bandwidth allocation isapplied to the at least one optional local service feed.
 62. Anapparatus for blackout and retune distribution comprising: a multiplexreceiving a blacked out feed and a non-blacked out feed; a retunemultiplex receiving the non-blacked out feed and a retune feedcorresponding to a retune programming for the blacked out feed; and, acombiner coupled to the multiplex and the retune multiplex, the combinerproviding an aggregate outbound traffic comprising the non-blacked outfeed, the blacked out feed and the retune feed.
 63. The apparatus forblackout and retune distribution of claim 62, wherein the multiplexreceives a second blacked out feed and wherein the apparatus forblackout and retune distribution further comprising a second retunemultiplex receiving a second retune feed corresponding to a secondretune programming for the second blacked out feed, wherein the combineris coupled to the second retune multiplex and the aggregate outboundtraffic comprises the second retune feed.
 64. An apparatus for blackoutand retune distribution comprising: a wide area multiplex receiving atleast one non-blacked out feed, the wide area multiplex providing anaggregate wide area outbound traffic; and, a local multiplex coupled tothe wide area multiplex and receiving the aggregate wide area outboundtraffic, at least one local feed, and a retune feed, wherein the localmultiplex providing an aggregate local outbound traffic.
 65. Theapparatus for blackout and retune distribution of claim 64, wherein thewide area multiplex does not carry blacked out feeds.
 66. The apparatusfor blackout and retune distribution of claim 64, wherein all retunefeeds are carried in the local multiplex.
 67. An apparatus for blackoutand retune distribution comprising: a wide area multiplex receiving anon-blacked out feed and a blacked out feed, the wide area multiplexproviding an aggregate wide area outbound traffic; a wide areare-multiplex coupled to the wide area multiplex, the wide areare-multiplex receiving a retune feed corresponding to a retuneprogramming for the blacked out feed, the wide area re-multiplexconfigured to replace the blacked out feed from the aggregate wide areaoutbound traffic with the retune feed; and, a local multiplex coupled tothe wide area re-multiplex and receiving the non-blacked out feed, theretune feed and a local feed, wherein the local multiplex providing anaggregate local outbound traffic.
 68. The apparatus for blackout andretune distribution of claim 67, wherein the non-blacked out feed istransmitted using dynamic bandwidth allocation.
 69. The apparatus forblackout and retune distribution of claim 67, wherein the blacked outfeed is transmitted using fixed bandwidth allocation.
 70. The apparatusfor blackout and retune distribution of claim 67, wherein the retunefeed is transmitted using fixed bandwidth allocation.
 71. An apparatusfor blackout and retune distribution comprising: a wide area multiplexreceiving a non-blacked out feed and a blacked out feed; a combinercoupled to the wide area multiplex and receiving the non-blacked outfeed and the blacked out feed, the combiner further receiving a retunefeed corresponding to a retune programming for the blacked out feed, thecombiner providing an aggregate wide area outbound traffic; a splittercoupled to the combiner, the splitter configured to separate theaggregate wide area outbound traffic into the retune feed, the blackedout feed and the non-blacked out feed; a wide area re-multiplex coupledto the splitter, the wide area re-multiplex receiving the retune feedand the blacked out feed, the wide area re-multiplex configured toreplace the blacked out feed with the retune feed; and, a localmultiplex coupled to the wide area re-multiplex and receiving thenon-blacked out feed, the retune feed and a local feed, wherein thelocal multiplex providing an aggregate local outbound traffic.
 72. Theapparatus for blackout and retune distribution of claim 71, where thenon-blacked out feed is transmitted using dynamic bandwidth allocation.73. The apparatus for blackout and retune distribution of claim 71,where the blacked out feed is transmitted using fixed bandwidthallocation.
 74. The apparatus for blackout and retune distribution ofclaim 71, where the retune feed is transmitted using fixed bandwidthallocation.
 75. An apparatus for blackout and retune distributioncomprising: a wide area multiplex receiving a non-blacked out feed and ablacked out feed, the wide area multiplex providing an aggregate widearea outbound traffic; a local multiplex receiving a local feed and aretune feed corresponding to a retune programming for the blacked outfeed; and, a combiner coupled to the wide area multiplex and the localmultiplex, the combiner receiving the non-blacked out feed, the retunefeed and a local feed, wherein the combiner providing an aggregate localoutbound traffic.
 76. The apparatus for blackout and retune distributionof claim 75, where the non-blacked out feed is transmitted using dynamicbandwidth allocation.
 77. The apparatus for blackout and retunedistribution of claim 75, where the blacked out feed is transmittedusing dynamic bandwidth allocation.
 78. The apparatus for blackout andretune distribution of claim 75, where the retune feed is transmittedusing dynamic bandwidth allocation.